


free

by VillainousTalking (rainbowshoes)



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: As a love language, Bruises, Fluff, Kisses, M/M, Massage, Mild Angst, Sports, acts of service, frustration with lack of accessibility options, hard of hearing aaron minyard, video games - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:35:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27109615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainbowshoes/pseuds/VillainousTalking
Summary: aaron is struggling with his video lectures, but matt is there to help
Relationships: Matt Boyd/Aaron Minyard
Comments: 6
Kudos: 40
Collections: Fandom Trumps Hate 2020





	free

**Author's Note:**

  * For [antgst](https://archiveofourown.org/users/antgst/gifts).



> thank you to antgst for being so kind and patient with me while i worked on this fic

The stupid lecture videos didn't have captions, and they'd been recorded from the very back of the classroom, so it wasn't like Aaron could even attempt to lipread - which he was only marginally good at anyway, and even then only when he could hear the general sounds people made to go with the words. They'd all missed four days of classes because of the Spring Championship match in California this year due to some weather delays. The absences may have been excused, but Aaron still had to do the work assigned, and that meant listening to the lectures - which was nearly impossible considering the terrible quality of the recording and the lack of subtitles. 

It usually wasn't much of a problem. In class, he sat near the front, and his hearing aids were enough of an accommodation that he didn't need anyone to sign for him. He wasn't totally deaf, after all. But these videos were such a pain. He had his headphones on and the volume cranked as loud as it would go, but it was giving him a headache trying to parse the words and take notes. 

He felt a hand settle on his shoulder and he flinched very slightly. He relaxed again almost immediately. Matt's hand squeezed twice, once to reassure him, a second time to help him relax. His hands came up and tugged the headphones off his head and he reached around Aaron to pause the video on his laptop. He turned the desk chair to the side and signed as he spoke - a habit Nicky had started, Andrew had followed, Neil of all people had picked up on the quickest, and Matt and Dan had encouraged among the other team members. Since they'd started dating, Matt had become more fluent than the others - better than Nicky and almost as good as Andrew and Aaron themselves. 

"You look like you're about two minutes from slamming your head into the keyboard," Matt said, then smiled wryly. "Why not take a break for a little while?"

Aaron scowled a bit and flicked his fingers dismissively. "I have about ten more of these to get through. And none of them have subtitles. It's giving me a headache." He rubbed at his forehead and forced himself to unclench his jaw. 

"Come on, take a break." Matt took his hand and tugged him out of the chair. He deposited Aaron on the couch and gestured for him to stay put, so Aaron slumped back against the cushions and sighed. He hadn't slept well last night, either, and he was sure that wasn't helping anything. He was bruised to hell and back from their championship game. UCA might be the team that was most renowned for having the fewest red cards, but that didn't mean they were anything resembling gentle, it just meant they didn't break the rules when they slammed him to the floor or against the wall. 

Matt came back a few minutes later with an icy cold sports drink, a bottle of water, and a bottle of lavender-scented lotion. He sat all three on the narrow coffee table in front of the couch and then sat beside Aaron. Gently and with a coaxing smile, he eased Aaron forward and then had him turn to the side so Aaron's back was to Matt's chest. He tugged Aaron's shirt up and over his head. 

He said something that sounded like 'drink' and pressed the bright blue bottle into Aaron's hand, then grabbed the lotion. It was cold when he first touched Aaron's shoulders, but it warmed quickly. Matt kneaded the tension from his muscles in slow, firm strokes, the tips of his fingers digging in hard. Aaron slumped forward, sighing softly. 

"Feels good," he said. He knew the tone was probably awkward and not quite right, but he didn't care. He could feel Matt's chuckle more than hear it, but it made him smile anyway. 

Matt's hands eased down from his shoulders, his thumbs pressing into his shoulder blades in small circles. He started on either side of Aaron's spine and worked his way out, swooping gently under his shoulder blades. He felt Matt's gentle press of fingers over the dark bruise across the back half of his ribs under his shoulder blade, the gentle press of lips at the back of his neck, and then the massage continued. Matt worked the tension from his lower back with wider thumb-circles. 

When he'd finished with Aaron's back, Matt's arms came around him and eased him back so that he rested against Matt's chest. Aaron thought it was over. He smiled and signed his thanks. Matt pressed a sloppy little kiss to the shell of Aaron's ear, then leaned over and grabbed the remote and turned on the television. He found an old action movie and made sure the captions were on, then repositioned them so Aaron could see it better. 

Matt took up Aaron's hand and began to gently massage his palm, his touch far more delicate than it had been on his shoulders and back. It helped the headache throbbing between his ears ease and drain away. Matt continued up to Aaron's wrist, bringing his arm up to press yet another kiss to the bruise coloring his wrist. Aaron felt like a lump of putty as Matt worked his way all the way up from Aaron's wrist to his elbow, over his bicep to his shoulder, and from his other shoulder down to the opposite wrist and palm and fingers. 

"Feet?" Matt signed. Aaron turned so Matt could see the disgruntled sneer on his face, and he laughed in response. 

"Thank you," Aaron signed again. He lay back against Matt's chest once more. "Feel like jello now."

"Good." Matt wrapped his arms around him again and squeezed gently. "Dinner?" 

Aaron shrugged lightly. He didn't want to move at all. He was comfortable and warm without being too hot. He could have probably fallen asleep exactly as he was if given enough time. He could feel Matt's heartbeat and steady breathing at his back, the way his fingers trailed lightly over his arms and shoulders. Matt had never been good at sitting still, but he was good at being restful. 

He was too lazy to sign. "What do you want to eat?" He felt Matt's soft chuckle and the gentle press of lips to his hair. "We don't have shit to cook." And that was true. They'd only been back for two days, and they'd had almost nothing before they left. 

"I'll go and get something to cook," Matt signed. "You can nap." 

A nap did sound really nice. And yet… 

"Stay 'til I fall asleep." Aaron didn't make requests such as that lightly. Matt lowered his arms again and squeezed him, almost too tight. It was nice. "Feels okay, with you," Aaron explained. "Don't have to pretend." 

Matt pressed his face against the top of Aaron's head for a long time. Aaron shut his eyes and let himself relax even more. With Matt, he felt safe. Protected. In a way he'd never really felt with Andrew. He smiled, just a little. Matt made him feel free to be himself, as he was, without hiding any of the nastier or uglier parts. Matt had all his own demons with which to contend. But… when Matt was there with him, it made everything feel like it was going to be okay. 

Eventually, Aaron drifted into a light doze. He was semi-aware when Matt shifted him to the side and laid him down on the couch, but he didn't wake fully and he didn't try to help. Matt left him there to sleep, and Aaron napped for a while longer while he was gone, sinking deeper into his nap. He didn't dream, it wasn't that sort of nap. 

It was the smell of cooking food that woke him. He sat up slowly, yawning and stretching. Matt smiled at him over his shoulder where he was standing in their kitchenette. He could smell chicken and something spicy and burnt cheese. His muscles still felt like liquid, all loose and relaxed. He grabbed the bottle of water from the table and drank half of it, then stood and made his way to the kitchen. 

There were two plates waiting. One already had food on it - a chicken quesadilla, messy and oozing cheese and chicken. It was bright with red pepper on the inside. He smiled and picked up one of the triangles Matt had already sliced it into and bit off a piece. It was heat-hot  _ and _ spicy-hot. 

"Good?" Matt signed, grinning broadly. Aaron nodded and shoved another bite into his mouth as soon as he'd swallowed the first. Matt laughed. He dumped the second quesadilla onto the empty plate and grabbed the pizza cutter to slice his into pieces. His own was noticeably less red. 

"Whimp," Aaron teased. 

"Demon," Matt fired back. Aaron rolled his eyes and grabbed his plate. Matt followed and put his plate on the coffee table beside Aaron's before heading back to the kitchen for a few bottles of water. He set those down as well, then flopped down on the couch and grabbed the controllers for the Playstation and passed one to Aaron. "FIFA or Forza?"

"Forza," Aaron answered. He smirked and bit off another piece of his quesadilla. "I'll kick your ass." 

"Wanna bet?" Matt laughed and got the game loaded and ready to go. They started up a one-on-one racing match, elbowing one another and laughing, driving each other into ditches and walls, crashing into each other, and otherwise sabotaging the race in every way they could think of. By the time their cars limped over the finish line, they were smoking, dented wrecks of junk. They paused for a moment to eat a little more, then they started another race, this one based on speed alone. 

Once their dinner was gone, they switched to Call of Duty and ran around the map playing against each other. Aaron had gotten a lot better at slinging insults one-handed than Matt, and he took full advantage of the moments when Matt tried to snipe him or throw sticky grenades in his direction. It worked most of the time, though he won the match by only a handful of kills. 

It was nearly ten when they stopped and Matt switched the tv over to a movie. It was another old one, a favorite they both enjoyed, though Matt had already made sure the subtitles were on so Aaron could follow along. 

He distracted Aaron after the first few minutes. "We should go to the student center tomorrow and get someone to interpret the lectures for you. That would make it easier, right?" 

Aaron made a face. "I don't want to. It fucking sucks going there."

"I'll go with you," Matt offered immediately. "Look, it was their fault for not giving you a transcript in the first place. And you need it, right?" It was with great reluctance that Aaron nodded. He really did need those lessons transcribed or  _ something _ . His hearing aids were too shitty to listen to the crappy audio and follow along. "So I'll go with you. I can do my work while I'm there, and you can get your notes and stuff." 

He looked at the tv for a moment and sighed. "And if they won't do it?" He was always afraid they'd say no, that they couldn't help him, that he was asking for too much, that he was too much of a burden. He never knew how far  _ reasonable accommodations  _ stretched. That was the term used in the scholarship paperwork. 

Matt gently tapped his hand. When Aaron looked at him, he was surprised to see how serious Matt's expression was. "They have to. They don't have a choice. If they don't, we can tell Wymack and Abby, and they'll make sure you get whatever you need. I promise." His face softened. "You don't have to be afraid to ask for what you need. You'll get it. That's what we're here for. To make sure that you do."

Aaron nodded a little. He wasn't sure he quite believed Matt, but it was hard to doubt him. He leaned against his side and Matt wrapped his arm around his shoulders and held him tight while they watched the movie together. 

The next day when they walked into the student center, the girl at the desk seemed upset when Aaron explained that the lectures he'd been given hadn't come with any transcripts or subtitles. It was only when she turned to get something from the back wall that he noticed the nearly invisible hearing aids in her ears and he relaxed a little. When she turned back around, he signed at her tentatively. Her face brightened immediately, and the remainder of their conversation was non-verbal and a lot better. He left ten minutes later, but he could stop by the next day and get fully-typed transcripts of all the lectures he'd missed. Matt grinned at him brightly, without the I-told-you-so undercurrent Aaron was expecting. 

Yeah, with Matt, he could be himself - without judgment or reservation. It was freeing. 

**Author's Note:**

> for those of you who don't know - nearly all of the aatt works that have been orphaned are mine. i wrote the 'one or the other' series and various other works for aatt. i left the fandom a couple years ago, but i agreed to write for it again for FTH. 
> 
> i'm not sure what the aftg fandom looks like these days, but comments are moderated, and if i start getting death threats again, i will report you. remember your lessons from preschool: if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.
> 
> thanks in advance to those who decide to be kind.


End file.
